Chapter 60: Chapter 60: Arranging a Marriage

Grace Sutton didn’t like Caleb Summers and his wife, Mindy Walsh. She especially disliked Mindy. Even though they were sisters-in-law, Mindy, the daughter of a deputy city bureau chief, was incredibly arrogant and looked down on Grace for her humble origins.

Sometimes when they ran into each other, Grace would greet Mindy, who would just pretend not to see her, leaving Grace feeling quite awkward.

When Caleb Summers saw Grace come out, he smiled, nodded, and greeted her. Mindy Walsh, however, didn’t even spare Grace a glance and walked straight into the villa.

The moment she stepped into the courtyard, Mindy was stunned by how cool it was.

"You actually have air conditioning running in the courtyard?" Caleb Summers asked in amazement. "That’s such a waste of electricity!"

Caleb then noticed the large vegetable patch in the front yard, which was teeming with all sorts of produce. He exclaimed, "Why did you plant so many vegetables here? You must never be short of things to eat."

Nina Walsh curled her lip and muttered, "You’re running the AC in the courtyard just for some plants? That’s an incredible waste of electricity. There’s a national power shortage, you know. You’re being so selfish!"

"The house runs on solar panels. We don’t use the city grid, so nothing’s being wasted," Melody Summers replied calmly from the doorway. "Uncle, Aunt, please come in."

Nina Walsh’s face burned with embarrassment. She shot Melody a resentful glare.

Caleb Summers had married into the Walsh family, which was why Nina took her mother’s surname. Influenced by her parents from a young age, Nina had always looked down on the poor relatives on her father’s side, including her cousin Melody.

Later, when Melody got into a prestigious university while Nina only managed to get into a regular one, her dislike for Melody only intensified.

When Caleb Summers and Mindy Walsh saw Melody, they exchanged a glance, a flicker of delight in their eyes. Caleb smiled and said, "It’s Melody, isn’t it? It’s been so long. Look how much you’ve grown."

Melody gave a polite nod and turned to let the three of them inside.

Caleb Summers sized up the villa’s decor, inwardly astonished. ’This must have cost a fortune.’

The inside was also perfectly cool. A delicate fruit platter sat in the living room, laden with fresh peaches and sliced pineapple. Caleb’s family of three stared, their eyes wide. These days, what ordinary family could still afford to eat fruit?

"Have a seat." Grandma, who had been on the sofa the entire time, watched them enter with a neutral expression.

Ever since Caleb had married into the Walsh family, he’d refused to contact his own family. When Nina was born, Grandma had brought a gift to the Walsh residence to visit Mindy and the baby, but Caleb had stopped her at the door. He didn’t want his in-laws to see his own mother from the countryside.

Grandma had traveled all that way, yet Caleb wouldn’t even let her in. Left with no choice, she could only take her gift and leave by herself. The incident had saddened her for a long time.

In all these years, Caleb had never once come home to visit his mother, as if that would erase his rural background.

"Miss Lowell, you’re here as well," Caleb said politely upon seeing her.

"Yes," Miss Lowell replied. She knew all about Caleb’s behavior over the years, but she felt it wasn’t her place to meddle in the Summers family’s affairs. After the brief greeting, she turned and went to the kitchen to prepare the meal.

"It’s hot out there. Have something to drink," Grace said, bringing over a pitcher of chilled orange juice. It had been freshly squeezed that morning and kept in an ice bucket.

Caleb’s family stared at the pitcher in shock. Mindy couldn’t stop herself from blurting out, "Fruit is so hard to come by now, and you’re willing to just squeeze it into juice?! That’s so wasteful!"

Hearing this, Grandma calmly replied, "We have a few fruit trees in the yard. It’s enough for our family."

Caleb’s family cast aside any pretense of being reserved. They each took a large gulp. The ice-cold juice, with its sweet and intense citrus fragrance, washed away all the weariness from their journey in a single glass.

After finishing their glasses, the three of them wanted more, eyeing the remaining juice in the glass pitcher with some embarrassment. Grace didn’t make an issue of it and simply refilled their glasses.

Mindy watched Grace, a pang of jealousy rising in her heart.

Mindy had always looked down on Grace. Colin Summers had only finished middle school, had no respectable job, and worked as an hourly laborer. Her husband, Caleb, on the other hand, was a university graduate and a government official.

Her own background was better than Grace’s, and she had married better too. Even after the natural disaster, because Caleb worked for the government, she was one of the few people who could still get apples. She never imagined she would come here today only to find that Grace was living better than her!

Mindy lowered her head, desperately trying to hide the jealousy and resentment in her eyes.

Ever since she’d walked in, Nina had been staring at the peaches and pineapple on the fruit platter. ’I haven’t had peaches or pineapple in so long!’ She wanted to grab a peach but was afraid Melody would look down on her. She could only grit her teeth, torn by indecision.

After two glasses of orange juice, Caleb suddenly felt that the crackers and dried noodles he had brought were too shabby to even offer as a gift. He felt a moment of embarrassment.

But Caleb was a veteran of bureaucracy. He quickly composed himself, shedding his usual cold demeanor. He turned to Grace with a polite smile. "You’re looking younger every day, sister-in-law. By the way, are Colin and Winnie not home?"

"Your brother and Winnie are busy," Grace replied. "I already let them know you were coming. They said they’d be back by noon."

"No problem, no problem! Let them finish their work first!" Caleb said with a laugh. He then turned his attention to Melody, asking about her current situation in detail, including if she had found a job or if she was seeing anyone.

Melody felt there was something odd about the way the couple was sizing her up, but she didn’t let it show, giving them vague answers. ’I’d like to see what these two are really up to.’

A short while later, around noon, Winnie and Colin Summers returned.

"Brother! Sister! You’re back," Caleb said, hurrying over to greet them.

Colin had no fond feelings for his younger brother. Growing up, Caleb had often caused trouble for him.

Caleb had been irresponsible. Once, he had killed the family’s goat with weed killer and framed Colin for it, which earned Colin a terrible beating.

Colin forced a smile at Caleb and gave a curt nod.

Winnie didn’t like her second-eldest brother either. Caleb not only enjoyed belittling her, but when he learned of her divorce, he had called to curse her out. He’d called her a cast-off wife, said she was a disgrace to him, and even asked why she didn’t just kill herself to wash away the shame.

But as the saying goes, you don’t hit a smiling man. Seeing Caleb’s grin, Winnie also managed a perfunctory greeting.

"You’re back! Let’s eat," Grace called out to everyone.

Lunch today was a feast: roasted pork belly, chicken stewed with celtuce, stir-fried lamb, Eight-Treasure Duck, Coca-Cola chicken wings, and several other vegetable stir-fries that filled the entire table.

Caleb’s family of three was dumbfounded. They hadn’t eaten a decent meal like this since the disaster. Although Caleb got some benefits from his government job and could occasionally get some vegetables, the portions were small. They had to be frugal, and most of their meals consisted of rice or dried noodles with canned food.

’I can’t believe my brother and sister’s family eats this much in a single meal!’

Once everyone was seated, Nina had completely lost the reserved demeanor she’d had upon arriving. She grabbed several chicken wings at once and started devouring them.

Mindy was also stuffing food into her mouth nonstop. It had been so long since she’d eaten so many vegetables and so much fresh meat in one sitting. She didn’t even care that she bit her tongue in her haste.

Caleb went even further, downing four bowls of rice in a row. He even secretly loosened his belt by a few notches to make room for more. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The table of food was almost completely devoured by Caleb’s family. Melody and the others were stunned by how ravenously they ate. Melody had only finished half a bowl of rice before all the dishes were gone.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Caleb’s family sat on the sofa, contentedly rubbing their stomachs. It had been so long since they’d had such a sumptuous meal that they felt almost dizzy from overeating.

Mindy tugged on Caleb’s sleeve and shot him a meaningful look. Caleb blinked, his mind still reeling from the incredible meal. He had almost forgotten why they had come.

Caleb cleared his throat, ready to get to the point. He looked at Melody and the others. "Melody is a young woman now," he began. "It’s about time she found a partner. We came here today, in fact, to propose a marriage for her."

Winnie and the others were stunned. "A marriage?"